Question Cooling Kit for Lian Li Lancool II

[aymantarek436]

I have recently built my pc in this case: " Lian Li Lancool II ". This case comes with 3 Non-RGB 120mm fans; 1 rear, 1 top, 1 front. I figured I needed to buy a cooling kit for this case to improve airflow and add a nice RGB touch. The temps during gaming for my CPU which is i5 12400f doesn't pass 82C degrees and my RX 6900 XT doesn't pass 75C (except for the hotspot which may reach 95C). I think I should move all the non-RGB fans in front as the case already have RGB in the front panel and I will add 2 on top and 1 on rear slots. Here are some of the available cooling kits for me in Egypt:
COOLER MASTER SICKLEFLOW ARGB 3 Fans with Controller Fan price: $36 (Speed: 650-1800 RPM ± 10% - Air Flow: 62 CFM ± 10% - Air Pressure: 2.5 mmH2O ± 10% )
COOLER MASTER MASTERFAN MF120 HALO 3 Fans with Controller Fan price: $48 (Speed: 650-1800 RPM ± 10% - Air Flow: 47.2 CFM ± 10% - Air Pressure: 1.6 mmH2O ± 10% )
COOLER MASTER PRISMATIC MF120 ARGB 3 Fans with Controller Fan price: $57 (Speed: 650-2000 RPM ± 5% - Air Flow: 55 CFM - Air Pressure: 2.91 mmH2O )
Corsair ICUE SP120 RGB PRO Performance 120mm 3 Fans With Lighting Node CORE price: $53 (Speed: 1400 RPM ±10% - Air Flow: 52 CFM - Air Pressure: 1.45 mm-H2O )
Thermaltake Pure 12 ARGB Sync Case Fan 3 Pack price: $40 (Speed: 500-1500 RPM - Air Flow: 56.45 CFM - Air Pressure: 1.59mm-H2O )

Which of these cooling kits should improve airflow for my case the best? From my POV, I prefer the Coolermaster Sickleflow as they are very cheap with good air flow and pressure, so what do you think about them?
One more thing, my front panel RGB doesn't work with Aura Sync of ASUS using Armoury Crate software. Do you thing the technician who installed my pc forgot to plug in case cables into the AURA RGB header or the ARGB header?
Here is my PC Part Picker list in case you need it: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/G28pLs

 

[geofelt]

What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Your current temperatures are good.

Spend your budget elsewhere.
Perhaps replace the stock cooler for quieter operation.

 

[aymantarek436]

What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Your current temperatures are good.

Spend your budget elsewhere.
Perhaps replace the stock cooler for quieter operation.

Well, it's not a problem "yet". These are the temps in winter. In egypt, summer is pretty hot and temps might make a huge jump, so I'm just doing some precautions just in case. Also, if 40 bucks is gonna make a good difference in airflow of the case and its temps, then why not? I'm also a very cautious man and I don't like to get slightly worried 😅.
P.S: The cheapest tier 3 cpu cooler costs $85 here in Egypt and I don't think 12400f needs a stronger cooler more than better airflow.

 

[geofelt]

Good cooling comes with good airflow.
It starts with getting more air INTO the case.
All air will eventually exit somewhere, taking parts heat with it.
With three 120mm supplied fans, I would mount two as front intakes and use one as rear exhaust. The job of the rear fan is to direct airflow over the motherboard,gpu and cpu cooler.
Top exhaust tends to direct airflow up and out of the case without cooling anything.
The bottom 120mm intake spot will be a bit blocked.
If you want to increase front intake, a pair of 1500 rpm 140mm fans will move lots of air.
I do not anticipate needing more than the stock cooler for the 12400.
It might get noisy under load. At most, a 120mm tower type cooler like the Noctua NH-U12s It comes with the needed lga1700 mount.

RGB is not my thing, do what you wish there.

A good pc in a closed room will eventually heat up the room making cooling less efficient. In the summer if you have a/c that sends heat out of the room, good.
Or at least use a window fan to get rid of excess heat.

 

[aymantarek436]

Good cooling comes with good airflow.
It starts with getting more air INTO the case.
All air will eventually exit somewhere, taking parts heat with it.
With three 120mm supplied fans, I would mount two as front intakes and use one as rear exhaust. The job of the rear fan is to direct airflow over the motherboard,gpu and cpu cooler.
Top exhaust tends to direct airflow up and out of the case without cooling anything.
The bottom 120mm intake spot will be a bit blocked.
If you want to increase front intake, a pair of 1500 rpm 140mm fans will move lots of air.
I do not anticipate needing more than the stock cooler for the 12400.
It might get noisy under load. At most, a 120mm tower type cooler like the Noctua NH-U12s It comes with the needed lga1700 mount.

RGB is not my thing, do what you wish there.

A good pc in a closed room will eventually heat up the room making cooling less efficient. In the summer if you have a/c that sends heat out of the room, good.
Or at least use a window fan to get rid of excess heat.

So, you mean that if I buy extra 3 fans is unnecessary since the 3 fans I have are enough?
If I added 3x120mm more powerful fans in front and moved the current fans on top and rear, will it be useless as top exhaust won't make such difference? Should I spend 30 more bucks on 3x140mm fans to improve front intake?

 

[geofelt]

First, try moving the top 120mm exhaust to the front as intake.
I think you will do better without costing you anything.

If you think you still want better cooling,
decide if you want it for the cpu or the gpu.
If you want better gpu cooling, replace the two front 120mm intakes with two 140mm 1500rpm fans. Plan on using motherboard control to slow them down if they get too noisy.

If you want better cpu cooling, buy a aftermarket cower type cooler to replace the 12400 stock cooler.
One of the best is the thermalright peerless asassin:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se
But, any tower type cooler with a 120mm fan or larger will be better than the stock cooler.

 

[aymantarek436]

First, try moving the top 120mm exhaust to the front as intake.
I think you will do better without costing you anything.

I have just did this and I tested it with 3dmark TimeSpy (free version) and I got better temps. Here is temps during test before & after:
Before:

https://imgur.com/a/bM49Mvb

View: https://imgur.com/a/bM49Mvb

After:

https://imgur.com/a/vJ4V8tl

View: https://imgur.com/a/vJ4V8tl


I noticed that Hot Spot temps (Junction temps) are pretty high, so I thought I'm gonna need better airflow in the case. I ordered the Cooler Master Sickleflow 3x kit (for $35 only) because of it's very good airflow and static pressure in the same time almost as good as 140mm fans. I didn't order the 140mm fans because each costs $23 ( totaling $46 if I buy just 2) so that's not really a very good deal. What do you think?

 

[geofelt]

I think you want to spend money to fix a problem you do not have.

As to 140mm vs 120mm fans, a 140mm fan will turn slower for a given amount of airflow and will be quieter.

 

[aymantarek436]

I think you want to spend money to fix a problem you do not have.

As to 140mm vs 120mm fans, a 140mm fan will turn slower for a given amount of airflow and will be quieter.

The problem here is my GPU HotSpot temps reaching above 95°C, so I want to improve my case airflow. If putting 2x140mm fans in front will make the gpu cooler than 3x120mm fans in front, tell me and I'll cancel the order right away and order 2x of MF140 Halo. Also, I don't mind the noise that much. Most important, I care about is the lifespan of my hardware.
FYI, The Sickleflow has less noise and better airflow than the MF140 Halo on paper. I can also get 3x cooling kit of Thermaltake pure 14 for $60 as they are not sold separately. Then, I'll have extra useless 140mm fan.
Given the options I have, tell me how I should spend my money to improve the airflow in my case.

 

[geofelt]

Do some research. Apparently the throttle point for your gpu is 110c at the hot spot.
100c. is apparently ok according to amd.
I think you really need do nothing,

On fans, 1000 rpm is relatively quiet.
1500 rpm is noisy.
If you get into the 2000 rpm range that may become intolerable.
1500rpm on a good 140mm fan is likely to push as much air as 3 120mm fans at 2000 rpm.

 

[Kona45primo]

I've got the lian li mesh II performance... And a reference 6900xt. Had some extra notctua fans laying around from a previous build so they all went in the case 2 front 140mm intake, 2 top 120's front intake, back exhaust. 1 rear 120 exhaust, 2 bottom 120 GPU intake. 6900xt hot spot will still peak to 95 occasionally. Run AMD Chill, rarely happens now...

Moral of the story is you can't make the 6900xt run cooler from external sources. The hotspot is going to be that hot unless you want to spend the time to repaste, potentially fail & repeat until you get it right. Could require multiple attempts with no real guarantee unless you want to go liquid.